Tag: protestant

Before the dear reader gets started, I know, I know, the featured image seems to have NOTHING to do with Anthropocene. The gringa says, “Dear reader, read on. You will soon see the connected dots.”

There is a new vocabulary word the global scientific community is now introducing the public to. Anthropocene refers to the present geological age scientists believe humanity is entering. This is a period defined by human activity being the dominant influence on climate and Earth’s environment.

For weeks the gringa has had a sticky note on her laptop with one word scribbled on it, Anthropocene. Thanks to my quantum twin, Bea, I got off my duff and determined why this word was bothering me so. Thank you Bea.

The concept of the Anthropocene era just makes me sad. I am sad for the human race. I am sad for all animal-kind. I am sorry for all of the beautiful forests and waterfalls and rivers and canyons etc., etc., etc. I am sorry for all of the excellent scientists who see this train running toward a cliff and are screaming their heads off for the engineer to put on the brakes but he just keeps chugging along. I am also sad for my country, perhaps saddest of all for my country, for being the biggest disappointment of all.

As an American I have been raised on the idea of American ingenuity, American exceptionalism, American leadership and American philanthropy. Where is all of that? It’s bad enough that my country seems to be asleep at the wheel. What’s even worse is its refusal to take charge and seriously renovate the American way of life. This is holding back progress around the world. My country is, perhaps, one of the biggest problems to solving climate change simply because its bad attitude is a big stifle on everyone else. So, on top of being sad, I am also a bit ashamed. And mad. And the gringa wants to know WHY!

Despite the fact that there is virtually worldwide scientific consensus on the reality of climate change and where we are all headed (right down the crapper) if we don’t pull together and fix this mess, most Americans continue to live a lifestyle of delusion. As far back as 2005 the U.S. National Academy of Sciences claimed, “The scientific understanding of climate change is now sufficiently clear to justify taking steps to reduce the amount of gases in the atmosphere.”

The following year, 2006, The American Association for the Advancement of Science announced, “The scientific evidence is clear: global climate change caused by human activities is occurring now, and it is a growing threat to society.”

Even American doctors agree. The American Medical association “… supports the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s fourth assessment report and concurs with the scientific consensus that the Earth is undergoing adverse global climate change and that anthropogenic contributions are significant.”

Those conclusions were announced a DECADE ago! What has America done since then? Virtually NOTHING but lip service. WHY?

How do Americans feel about all this data and proof and agreement? The majority believe global warming is occurring. And, that’s where the common sense seems to stop. Many Americans believe (or desperately want to believe) that humans are not causing it.

Are almost eighty percent of Americans that dumb? No, the gringa doesn’t believe so. The gringa believes those Americans are simply too spoiled to consider changing their lifestyles and are willing to believe just about anything rather than change.

What do the majority of people in other countries think about the importance of solving climate change compared to Americans? Well, over eighty percent of the people in Mexico, France, Germany, the UK, Egypt, Turkey, Nigeria, China, India and Taiwan all agree it should be their government’s top priority. Less than twenty percent of Americans seem to believe this, according to the polling data of WorldPublicOpinion.org.

What in the world could cause an otherwise intelligent person to either purposely disconnect from truth or else think they are above its reach? What the heck is behind such madness among the American people? Well, the gringa believes it is part of American culture’s belief system. It is an attitude that has been ingrained upon the American psyche since the founding fathers sat around and hammered out the Declaration of Independence over two hundred years ago. It will not be easy to shake Americans free from this frame of mind. It is an attitude rooted in dominion theology.

The dear reader asks, “What the heck did the gringa just say? Dominion theology? How did she go from science to religion?” Dear reader, please allow me to explain the perspective of dominion theology and its history within America and how it is alive and well even today, all the while making a big mess of things around the world without a second thought.

Everyone knows the founding fathers of the United States were Masons. Now, dear reader, do not fear. I am not about to launch into a conspiracy rant. However, dominion theology was a common and dominant belief system among American Masons back in the 1700’s. This is the religious ideology that framed the nation and eventually influenced the minds and attitudes of almost every American born and raised here.

Dominion theology places precedence on the very first command God gave mankind. The logic goes: since it was the first command it must be the most important. And what was that command all about? It was about the Earth itself. Genesis 1:28 depicts God commanding mankind to “… subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” Now do you see how America is able to have absolutely no conscience as it exploits lands and people throughout the world? America believes it is religiously obligated to rule the world. However, modern American politicians are smart enough to know they shouldn’t say this outright.

The Christian right in the United States has historically controlled the direction of the nation. This theology, predominant in the particular form of Protestantism practiced in the U.S., has saturated not only the civilian population, but has carried over into politics and governing policy. Dominionists believe they are obligated by God to govern over EVERYONE and EVERYTHING.

Active dominionism can be traced back as recently as the 1980’s when several American evangelical authors published works actually using the label “dominionism” to describe their religious movements. Needless to say, the general reception of this theology became the subject of controversy and debate. Hence, dominion theology continued to be practiced but the label was no longer used. Dominionism is covert. It is now practiced under the insidious label of “prosperity theology”. God wants you to have everything, therefore go out and get it. Name it and claim it. It is still dominion theology.

And it has nothing to do with the teachings of Jesus Christ (who was actually more like a philanthropic minimalist and socialist). Despite its anti-Christian overtones of selfishness and arrogance, many American Christians continue to practice it because it enables them to live an indulgent lifestyle (which they love) without the guilt trip (which they hate) of how their choices are affecting the world around them. They write their checks for charity for others and Gucci for themselves and feel as if they have done their part. And, as their gross consumerism causes labor abuses around the world, rather than see the reality of Chinese sweatshops and its ilk, they pat themselves on the back that they are helping these poor people stay employed. They feel very self-satisfied that they are not only doing God’s will, but (get this), they also actually believe they are changing the world for the better.

And this arrogant, excessive, consumerist by-product of dominion theology carries over and contaminates even the non-religious American. They, too, think that it is a good thing when American culture is exported with the purpose of supplanting an existing culture in a less privileged country. So, all of these misguided, human produced climate change denying Americans have convinced themselves that their indulgent lifestyle is helping make the world a better place. Um, they are dead wrong. They, in fact, are a very big part of the problem. They are creating wars for profit, destroying the habitats and ways of life for indigenous peoples, and literally frying the world that we all live in as they continue their indulgent lives of excess and consumerism. And, they just need to STOP IT!

And that, my dear readers, is why the gringa is sad and mad about the Anthropocene Era. Until there is a serious religious and political revolution in America that transforms the minds of these brainwashed dominion theology practitioners, Christian and non-Christian alike, who believe it is their American birthright to live the high life at the expense of the rest of the world, the U.S. will continue to be a stone around the neck of progress.